The T-shirt decoration, by vjucool design.

+ The T-shirt Decoration

THE T-SHIRT DECORATION
In the 60’s the T-shirt expressed itself completely. In this period the T-shirt became a staple fashion object for young people or rock-n-rollers and transformed itself: tie-dye and screen-print , tank top, "wife beater", muscle shirt, scoop neck, V-neck etc. The T-shirt became a media, a mean of expression for many people by words, photographs on display. Among the methods of decoration used on T-shirts there are airbrush, applique, embroidery, laser printing and the ironing on of either flock lettering, heat transfers, or Dye sublimation transfers. But the most common form of commercial t-shirt decoration is screen-printing. After separating design into individual colours, it’s applied on the shirt plastisol or water based inks through mesh screens. So you can achieve a wider colour spectrum with a limited number of colours, process printing (using only cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink) or simulated process (using only white, black, red, green, blue, and gold ink) is effective. Naturally process printing is best suited for light colored shirts and simulated process is best suited for dark colored shirts. In the 80’s thermochromatic dyes were very cool. Thanks to this method, colour design change subjected to heat. Global Hypercolour produced this type of T-shirts that were a common sight on the streets of the UK an then in the US for a few years. A downside of color-change garments is that the dyes can easily be damaged, especially by washing in warm water. Since the late 1980s and especially the 1990s, T-shirts became a status symbol. Now T-shirts with prominent brand-name logos have been popular, especially with teenagers and young adults. People could be cool and decorative in inexpensive way. The first brands that made thiese T-shirts were Calvin Klein, FUBU, Ralph Lauren, The Gap etc. The late 1990s saw the renewed popularity of T-shirts that became more ironic and communicative. Celebrities started to wear T-shirts in every situation, during interviews or parties. The trend has only increased in this decade. Step by step message tee became more and more popular both in celebrities/politic world and common life. The T-shirt has became a statement that may be offensive, shocking, pornographic, grave, important… or simply all that you want. Today message tee is a declaration of liberty, the desire of new generations or organizations to say what they think in a world characterized by contradictions. The early 2000s used the internet to continue the modern phenomenon of "personal branding". The trend is that to create, thanks to companies such as Threadless and CafePress, a worldwide online community of fellow T-shirt designers and consumers able to express them freely.